National Infrastructure for Community Statistics

Welcome to the National Infrastructure for Community Statistics

The National Infrastructure for Community Statistics (NICS) will encourage the linking and integration of numerous national, regional, state, and local data exchanges that now exist or are being developed, including those in the fields of criminal justice, health, environment, environmental health, and geographic information into a national network.

The ability to access and analyze detailed, up-to-date sets of survey and administrative data for small areas through a linked network of web-based data exchanges facilitates greater understanding of community socioeconomic and geophysical conditions, trends and opportunities, as well as more effective program and investment decisions, improved measurement of program and investment impacts, and the creation of local and national indicators efforts. In this way, community statistics have the power to inform public debate, support better public and private choices, and empower communities to adapt to accelerating socioeconomic change.

To implement this vision, the Urban Markets Initiative (UMI) of the Brookings Institution has formed the Urban Markets Collaboratory (UMC), of which NICS is a project area. Through the UMC, NICS will have the opportunity to leverage the expertise of collaborative partners encompassing web-based data exchanges and intermediaries, as well as experts in areas critical to the success of these exchanges, such as metadata, data confidentiality, and cutting-edge tools development. The UMC will host NICS-related roundtables focused on forming Action Collaboratives around issues and action areas in support of NICS development and implementation.